Shunzei's Daughter Biography | Poet

Fujiwara no Shunzei no Musume ( , " Fujiwara no Shunzei 's daughter"; also occasionally called, or ), 1171 – 1252, was a Japanese poet ; she was probably the greatest female poet of her day, ranked with Princess Shikishi. Her father was the noted poet Fujiwara no Shunzei, and her even more famous brother, Fujiwara no Teika, thought enough of her talents to seek her out for advice and criticism after Shunzei died, although she did not hesitate to castigate him when he completed the Shinchokusen Wakashu, for Teika had turned against his former ideal poetic style of yoen (ethereal beauty) while Shunzei's Daughter had not- thus she found Teika's previous efforts to be markedly inferior, and even according to Donald Keene, "declared that if it had not been compiled by Teika she would have refused even to take it into her hands." (in a letter sent to Fujiwara no Tameie, Teika's son). She and others also criticized it for apparently deliberately excluding any of the objectively excellent poems produced by the three Retired Emperors exiled in the aftermath of the Jokyu War. Personal pique may also have played a role, since she saw 29 of her poems selected for the Shinkokinshu while only nine were chosen for the Shin Chokusenshu.